LTI Page 8

Woke up Monday morning to overcast skies, a chance of rain and close to 100% humidity, but we decided to try to get some painting in before the sky opened. Well, the sky never opened and finally after lunch we finished up the back of the bait shop. We had thought about waiting until Tuesday, but we were already paint spotted and had so little to do that we ate lunch and wrapped the task up. We were returning the paint tools and paint to the shop when we ran into Aaron.

When we told him we were done he showed some surprise and wondered if we felt we had time to work on another task. The equipment shed at the Park Manager’s residence will be done on Tuesday so we will paint it beginning Wednesday.

He again told us that we did a fantastic job on the trail and that he has never in his years at the park seen it look so good. It will now be up to the park folks to keep it cleaned up!

Tuesday we were at the Reed house doing laundry when one of the rangers told us that a large turtle had washed up on the beach. He said the shell measured 3 feet by 4 feet and was dead. So, after we had lunch and had done some errands we stopped by the ranger station to find out where it was located. We went home and rode our bikes to the beach and had to walk about ¼ mile down the beach where we saw Kathleen, and three other employees with their trucks. As we approached Kathleen shouted out that it was not a turtle, but a fish! When we got close we could see that it was not really a fish – just part of one. It was at least three feet high and what was left of the length was a little better than four feet. You can see by the size of the nearby truck and shovel the size of this thing.
They were trying to drag it up further on the beach and then bury it deep. No matter how they tried they could not move it. They had tarps under it but the ropes just pulled through the grommets. They finally gave up and were hoping the high tide – which was coming in – would wash it out. We will go try to check it out in the morning.

Kathleen, in the middle is flanked by ranger Michelle and Judy.

This is the small shed we are now working on. We were painting on the sides and back even before the other volunteers had completed the doors. The sides are made of ‘hardy’ or ‘cement’ board so they do not soak up paint and will not rot in the sun and moisture. We completed the base coat and now have only the trim to paint. We really don’t want to complete too soon as this will be our last project.












In the afternoon we rode our bikes on the blacktopped bike trail to the ‘south end’ and made our way through the sand to the beach. We rode on the beach back to the first boardwalk…a very pleasant ride as the tide was coming in. We found the fish, it moved up the beach – north – by the tides. According to Michelle it is/was a Sun Fish - not like we would think of at home!

Another task completed! We finished up the shed a little before noon. We are sure that we could be assigned another painting task, but the chance of rain this afternoon is 70% and runs the same through Friday morning so no need to tackle anything else.


Here’s a painter’s trick we leaned. See the blue tape on the one brush? This keeps paint from going all the way to the heel of the brush, which makes cleaning easier. It also keeps the bristles all together.

Friday at the shop when putting the painting tools and ladder away, Kathleen asked if we might want to go to the Home Depot in Jacksonville to pickup some material. So we took off in the old Ford dump truck (standard transmission) and drove into the north end Home Depot to pickup thirty 12 foot composite boards which they will use for bench seats. They are slowly moving from wood to composite as it lasts in this salt/sand climate. That will be our last job for this park as tonight we have a pot-luck with volunteers and staff.

Friday late afternoon we had a rain move through and it certainly cut down on the pollen! Between the cedar, the live oak and the flat wood pines it was getting pretty bad. Later that evening we had a potluck with most of the volunteers and a large number of the staff. Lots of good food and socializing and nice to see the staff out of uniform and to get to know them a bit more.

Michelle verified that the fish found on the beach is commonly referred to as a salt water ‘sun fish’ - really a Mola Mola - and it can weigh up to a ton! Here’s a link with more information about this strange fish: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocean_sunfish

Saturday we did some packing and made a final trip to WalMart. It was not too sunny so we made one final ride on the beach. The winds were pretty strong out of the south so it was a hard ride to the south end of the island. The sand was really blowing on the beach, but we did not have to pedal much on the way north. It stormed hard nearly all night so things are wet and soggy. Some of the stuff we pack away will have to be opened to dry.


Sunday afternoon there are three speakers at the Rebault Club talking about Florida history so we will go there to help fill in the day. We plan to be on the road by 8:30 for the two plus hour drive to Valdosta.

So this ends Florida portion of our travels.